The survey, conducted in shopping malls across the country, included 2,800 subjects divided roughly equally between men and women. While three in 10, asked to locate the "core" on a diagram of the human body, correctly pointed to “the lumbopelvic-hip complex, which involves deeper muscles, such as the internal oblique, transversus abdominis, transversospinalis (multifidus, rotatores, semispinalis), quadratus lumborum, and psoas major and minor, and superficial muscles, such as the rectus abdominis, external oblique, erector spinae (iliocostalis, spinalis, longissimus), latissimus dorsi, glute maximus and medius, hamstrings, and rectus femoris,” the remainder of subjects either guessed incorrectly or just stood and stared at the interviewer, chewing slowly on a Cinnabon.

The research was undertaken by the National Council on Core Strength, an association of personal trainers, kettlebell manufacturers, and magazine headline writers. The next step, they say, is a public education campaign.

"The core is crucial, bro," said Zach Bradford, 24, chief researcher, from the floor, where he was doing bird-dog crunches. "You gotta have a strong core."

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